Analysis Of The Chapter In the previous chapters Rev. 12–13 there is a description of the woes and sorrows which, for a long period, would come upon the church, and which would threaten to destroy it. It was proper that this gloomy picture should be relieved, and accordingly this chapter, having mu... [ Continue Reading ]
AND I LOOKED - My attention was drawn to a new vision. The eye was turned away from the beast and his image to the heavenly world - the Mount Zion above. AND, LO, A LAMB - See the notes on Revelation 5:6. STOOD ON THE MOUNT ZION - That is, in heaven. See the notes on Hebrews 12:22. Zion, literally... [ Continue Reading ]
AND I HEARD A VOICE FROM HEAVEN - Showing that the scene is laid in heaven, but that John in the vision was on the earth. AS THE VOICE OF MANY WATERS - As the sound of the ocean, or of a mighty cataract. That is, it was so loud that it could be heard from heaven to earth. No comparison could expres... [ Continue Reading ]
AND THEY SUNG AS IT WERE A NEW SONG - See the notes on Revelation 5:9. It was proper to call this “new,” because it was on a new occasion, or pertained to a new object. The song here was in celebration of the complete redemption of the church, and was the song to be sung in view of its final triumph... [ Continue Reading ]
THESE ARE THEY - In this verse, and in the following verse, the writer states the leading characteristics of those who are saved. The general idea is, that they are chaste; that they are the followers of the Lamb; that they are redeemed from among people; and that they are without guile. WHICH WERE... [ Continue Reading ]
AND IN THEIR MOUTH WAS FOUND NO GUILE - No deceit, fraud, hypocrisy. They were sincerely and truly what they professed to be - the children of God. This is the last characteristic which is given of them as redeemed, and it is not necessary to say that this is always represented as one of the charact... [ Continue Reading ]
AND I SAW ANOTHER ANGEL - This must, of course, mean a different one from someone mentioned before; but no such angel is referred to in the previous chapters, unless we go back to Revelation 12:7. It is not necessary, however, to suppose that John refers to a particular angel immediately preceding t... [ Continue Reading ]
SAYING WITH A LOUD VOICE - As if all the nations were summoned to hear. FEAR GOD - That is, reverence, honor, obey God. Render homage not to the beast, to his image, or to any idol, but to the only true God. This is the substance of the gospel - its end and design - to turn people from all forms of... [ Continue Reading ]
AND THERE FOLLOWED ANOTHER ANGEL - That is, in the vision. It is not necessary to suppose that this would, in the fulfillment, succeed the other in time. The chapter is made up of a number of representations, all designed to illustrate the same general thing, and to produce the same general effect o... [ Continue Reading ]
AND THE THIRD ANGEL FOLLOWED THEM - This was a new vision designed to represent the removal of all the obstructions to the final prevalence of the gospel. We are not necessarily to suppose that this event would succeed those mentioned before in the order of time, though this would be the natural con... [ Continue Reading ]
THE SAME SHALL DRINK OF THE WINE OF THE WRATH OF GOD - See notes on Revelation 14:8. The “wine of the wrath of God” is the cup in the hand of the Lord, which, when drunk, makes them reel and fall. The image would seem to have been taken from the act of holding out a cup of poison to a condemned man... [ Continue Reading ]
AND THE SMOKE OF THEIR TORMENT - The smoke proceeding from their place of torment. This language is probably derived from the account of the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, Genesis 19:28; “And he (Abraham) looked toward Sodom and Gomorrah, and toward all the land of the plain, and beheld, and lo,... [ Continue Reading ]
HERE IS THE PATIENCE OF THE SAINTS - See the notes on Revelation 13:10. HERE ARE THEY THAT KEEP THE COMMANDMENTS OF GOD - That is, in exercising such patience. Those who exercise that “patience” in these long-continued persecutions and trials, will show that they belong to those who keep the comman... [ Continue Reading ]
AND I HEARD A VOICE FROM HEAVEN - A voice that seemed to speak from heaven. SAYING UNTO ME, WRITE - Make a record of this truth. We may suppose that John was engaged in making a record of what he saw in vision; he was now instructed to make a record of what he heard. This passage may be referred to... [ Continue Reading ]
AND I LOOKED - See the notes on Revelation 14:1. His attention is arrested by a new vision. The Son of man himself comes forth to close the scene, and to wind up the affairs of the world. This, too, is of the nature of an episode, and the design is the same as the previous visions - to support the m... [ Continue Reading ]
AND ANOTHER ANGEL - The fourth in order, Revelation 14:6, Revelation 14:8. CAME OUT OF THE TEMPLE - See the notes on Revelation 11:19. Came, as it were, from the immediate presence of God; for the temple was regarded as his unique dwelling-place. CRYING WITH A LOUD VOICE TO HIM THAT SAT ON THE CLOU... [ Continue Reading ]
AND HE THAT SAT ON THE CLOUD - The Saviour, Revelation 14:14. THRUST IN HIS SICKLE ON THE EARTH - To cut down the harvest - that is, to gather his people to himself. AND THE EARTH WAS REAPED - So far as the righteous were concerned. The end had come; the church was redeemed; the work contemplated... [ Continue Reading ]
AND ANOTHER ANGEL - The fifth in order. This angel came for a different purpose - with reference to the cutting off of the enemies of God, represented by the gathering of a vintage. Compare Matthew 13:41; Matthew 24:31. CAME OUT OF THE TEMPLE WHICH IS IN HEAVEN - Sent or commissioned by God. See th... [ Continue Reading ]
AND ANOTHER ANGEL - The sixth in order. He came, like the angel in Revelation 14:15, with a command to him who had the sickle to go forth and execute his commission. CAME OUT FROM THE ALTAR - This stood in the front of the temple (see the notes on Matthew 21:12; compare the notes on Matthew 5:23),... [ Continue Reading ]
AND THE ANGEL THRUST IN HIS SICKLE INTO THE EARTH - That is, into that part of the earth which might be represented by a vineyard; or the earth considered as having been the abode of wicked men. AND CAST IT INTO THE GREAT WINE-PRESS OF THE WRATH OF GOD - See Isaiah 63:1. That is, the wine-press whe... [ Continue Reading ]
AND THE WINE-PRESS WAS TRODDEN WITHOUT THE CITY - The representation was made as if it were outside of the city - that is, the city of Jerusalem, for that is represented as the abode of the holy. The word “trodden” refers to the manner in which wine was usually prepared, by being trodden by the feet... [ Continue Reading ]